Northern Italy - suggestions


I'd take the name of a hotel in Firenze if you have one - that would be great. Going to spend 2 days there..

Thanks for all the help and advice. Riva and Malcesine do look good, but are maybe too far north - 1 of the reasons for picking Sirmione was the easy access to the train stations on the line to Venice and Verona, for day trips. But I'll have a think about it. Maybe May in Sirmione won't be too busy with tourists.
Also going to Cinque Terre for a day ...have to say it sounds amazing. And from there we head to Rome to see the sights St Peters, Colloseum, Stadio Olympico (lazio v parma - final seria A game of the season, allthough I have'nt told the other half yet!!!!)
 
Here you go: it's Albani Florence Hotelhttps://media.expedia.com/hotels/brands/dummy.gif[SIZE=-1]Via Fiume 12
Florence 50123
Italy
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it's a 4 star hotel, about 110-120E per night.
great part is, it's on the street parallel to the train station, so a 2 minute walk.

be prepared to see a lot of leather for sale, especially in the mercato area on the north of the old center, (5 mins NE of hotel), also take a look at the museum with David, it's that side too. The southern end of town is a little classier, with more shops than markets. Ponte veccio (probably a misspelling) with all the gold shops on the bridge is quite a sight, as is the square with the replica David, and the Duomo.

We're still trying to fit in our clothes since coming back, so enjoy the food as well as the sights

ps: as regards travel time to Malcesine, the bus organised by the hotel got us there from Orio in about 2 hrs. If you're hiring a car, unless you're familiar with continental driving etc, get one with GPS, one of our group got a rental, missed exits a couple of times and had to go 20k further each time it happened before turning around. (this was funny though, as long as it's not you )
 

Anyone have any thoughts on arriving in Milan train station around midnight for a connection is it a safe station, i.e. many police, many stories about thieves, muggings, etc. Also planning to stop for a few hours in Turin much to see there?
 
Feck all to see in Turin, although shopping is good in Milan.

Filigne is nice village/town in Firenze region, some lovely farmhouse wine estates with swimming pools to stay on, really class.
Florence is lovely of course, Pisa a big disappointment though.
 
I'd say Milan central station is safe enough. It's busy and quite open, so shouldn't be a problem.

as for Turin,... how about a visit to the FIAT or pininfarina factories?.. if you're into that. not sure what else..

check it out on wikipedia.com for a few photos etc.
 
If you're into history museums the Museo Nazionale del Risorgimento in Turin is pretty good ... It contains the first Italian Parliament.

Because Turin was the capital of Piedmont.. one of the most important of the states that made up Italy before Italy existed as a country... it's quite a grand city with fine squares and good historic buildings ... It certainly wouldn't be a number one choice of destinations in Italy but it's not that bad at all.
 

Thanks for all the advice guys
 
I'd go along with gearoid on that. Bologna and Ferrara are both fantastic places. Proper cities with few tourists.

If you go to Bologna make sure you eat at Da Nello- best pasta in the world.
 
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